


Secluded Lotus

by PureResonance



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Gen, Tangled AU, a friend asked for disney princess ren and i am here to deliver, a silly idea written completely seriously, dramatic disney princess ren amamiya, not sure if i'll cover the full story but i'll go as far as I can, ship tag will be added later when it enters the story properly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-16 15:13:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18096812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PureResonance/pseuds/PureResonance
Summary: Somewhere deep in the forest, hidden from the eyes of travelers within the mountains the trees surround, there is a lone tower.  When daybreak came each morning, it is within this tower known by only three beings that a single person began a familiar routine.It was a simple routine.Ren hated it.





	Secluded Lotus

**Author's Note:**

> Renpunzel

Somewhere deep in the forest, hidden from the eyes of travelers within the mountains the trees surround, there is a lone tower.  When daybreak came each morning, it is within this place known by only three beings that a single person began a familiar routine.

As the sun rose, the light from his small window always woke Ren from his slumber. It was the sign that he had to start his work for the day. The first of it, to clean himself up and get dressed into his proper clothing, no matter how much he didn’t want to. He always reminded himself that he would feel better once it was done. Though, making himself look presentable was only the first step him his day. The next thing he had to do was make himself breakfast. The meals he prepared being one of the few things that varied in his ritual. He would just make whatever he felt like with whatever food was available in storage. The only consistent piece of his first meal was the cup of coffee. If his favorite drink was not present, then his entire day would feel off.

His chores where what followed after. While repetitive, he needed to make sure that his attic was as spotless as it could be. Any dust that came in through his window had to be swept back out, the sheets of his bed had to be made without a wrinkle in sight, all his books and charts had to be in perfect place. If his room wasn’t in order by the time his father returned home from work he would have to face the consequences.

By the time his room was tidy; the last resident was waking to meet the morning. Ren found it funny, for someone who was always early to bed, Morgana sure was late to rise. Sometimes it made Ren let out a quiet laugh as he watched his friend wake up, but in cases where Morgana heard him laugh the cat would practically scream at him to quit it. Still, Morgana made good company in this lonely tower, even if it is a part of Ren’s chores to groom him after their bedroom was clean. There was only so much Morgana could do on his own and Ren would be lying if he said he didn’t find the task of brushing Morgana’s hair relaxing.

With his cat taken care of, he would move to sweep the rest of his home. Though in this case there wasn’t much left to sweep. The main room was much smaller than both his and his father’s, the latter of which he couldn’t clean due to the lock he was never able to figure out, and the bathroom was tinier than all the others combined. Still it was the last thing he needed to finish before his father returned home for lunch. A meal that Ren also had to prepare before the arrival.

His father would announce his return with a cry for Ren to let his hair down from the tower. With years of practice, it would only take him two minutes to gather all 70 unruly feet of it and throw it out the larger window located in the main room. As time passed, he stopped questioning how such an old man was able to climb it all with such practiced ease. Perhaps it was part of his work? Ren could care less. When he used to ask about it, he was never given an answer, so he learned to not bring the subject up. With his father’s ascent of tower completed, Ren would be greeted with a simple pat on the head before the family sat down to eat.

Lunch in itself was never anything spectacular, much like with breakfast what was made daily was dependant on the ingredients stored. Though Morgana would always eat the fish they kept especially for him without a word. Sometimes father would make a comment on his food if it didn’t meet his tastes, but still eat it regardless. The remainder of the meal would be filled with various small talk between parent and child.

> _"How has your morning been?”  
>  _
> 
> _“Are the chores completed?”_
> 
> _“You aren’t pushing yourself too hard at work are you?_
> 
> _“Is the cat making a mess again?”_

Mundane topics that would always be met with the same answers. A constant midday calm, one that started and ended promptly at the same time each passing day.

Though the most tenacious task always followed the meal. Ren would sit at the center of the tower and wait as his father brush through all of his long hair. While Ren was confident he could take care of it himself, his father claimed that it was an excellent way to spend time with him. To give his child a break for all of the hard work he did throughout the day. All he asked of Ren during this time was to sing the lullaby his father taught him as a child throughout the grooming. So as his father brushed,Ren would pet the Morgana in his lap and sing,

> _“Flower, gleam and glow”_
> 
> _“Let your power shine”_
> 
> _“Make the clock reverse”_
> 
> _“Bring back what once was mine”_
> 
> _“Heal what has been hurt”_
> 
> _“Change the fates' design”_
> 
> _“Save what has been lost”_
> 
> _“Bring back what once was mine…”_
> 
>  
> 
> _“What once was mine.”_

The deep silver of his hair glowed brightly to the lyrics as the magic took root. All in the room felt relaxed as the weariness from each of them melted away. Father said this was a magical healing gift Ren had been blessed with from the gods. This made him special. He just accepted the fact. He saw it happen before his eyes each day, and if it helped what gave him the right to complain? He should be grateful for it. Each day he tried his best not to think about it as he sang.

The process of brushing through all of his hair took hours, when father finished, it was time to prepare dinner after. Most days it was just another meal that was filled with familiar small talk much like lunch proceeding it.Though it wasn’t uncommon for silence to fill it as well. That never changed  that Father was always tired and retired for the night after he finished his meal. Leaving Ren to his own devices for the rest of the evening.

Much of his night was split between conversations with Morgana and reading through one of the many books in his large collection. He never seemed to be able too keep up with his increasing amount of literature. Father thought it was a great way for him to learn and enjoy his time, so when Ren finished one father would bring three more for him to read. It didn’t matter what type of book it was. Fiction? Nonfiction? Even books that described the workings of things such as animals and plants. Ren would read them all. It would fill the time until his father woke up, and prepared himself for his next day at work. All while Ren would gather his hair, throw it out of the tower, and wait until he could bid his father farewell for work.

Finally, after all was said and done, Ren and Morgana would return to their room and sleep the night away. Sleep until the next morning and repeat the same routine again, and again.

It was a simple and safe routine, one that he had been repeating for most of his life.

For almost 17 years this is what he did almost every single day.

It was dull and boring.

Ren hated it.

Yet no matter how much he tried to change it, he could never find an escape. He was forbidden from leaving the tower. It was all he had ever known his entire life. As a young child he never questioned it, but as he grew older his desire to see the world grew with each passing moment.

When he first turned 7 he asked his father if he could leave, and was met with firm denial.

That was when he was told the truth to why he was kept here. His hair, it’s healing abilities, he was the only one who possess them. While it brought great help to anyone who was hurt, it could also be exploited. If the wrong person was around, they would use him for their own means, all because of his power. If he denied them, the gift could be taken away in an instant. All they would have to do is cut his hair. Father had told him that he almost lost it once before, when he was too young to remember. The short lock of black hair that he hid behind his ear was proof enough. That’s why he must stay hidden, away from the dangers that would bring him harm.

But even with all the risks in the world, it never stopped him from questioning what was out there and from wanting to leave.

At age 11 a lost cat had climbed the tower, one that could speak and told stories of the outside world. Someone that sparked Ren’s curiosity and ambition to leave even further. He convinced his father to let him keep Morgana, deceiving the old man into thinking that this was a regular old cat. All while the two plotted and attempted their escape.

No attempt was ever successful, father always caught them in the act.

As time passed with each failure, Ren’s world only grew smaller.

He remembered the tower having more rooms, there were one below the main room, several connecting from it as well. He wasn’t always sleeping in the attic, his old room was next to his father’s. He recalled when his hair wasn’t long enough for father to climb and had to enter the tower another way. Yet every time Ren acted out and tried to find an exit, father took away part of the tower. He locked doors and threw away the keys. And the one time Ren attempted to pick one of the locks? Father boarded up the walls in away which made them look like they never existed in the first place.

His home felt less like home. His leash only grew tighter. At this point he might as well be chained up here. If it wasn’t for the reason to keep him safe, he would call this a prison.

Maybe that’s why father kept giving him books, to give him access to the world that he would never be able to see otherwise. To give him knowledge of the things he questioned so often. Then again, maybe they were just given to him in attempt to try to stop his reckless escape attempts, to placate him into staying home since there would be nothing for him outside to discover.

Still, each book resonated with him, whether his knowledge of the world grew, or he found himself reading the tale of people who didn’t exist on their journeys. They gave him an escape away from his dull life, a chance to be someone he wasn’t. Sometimes, as a child he would play pretend and behave like he was a character from one of the story books. A thief to steal the treasure from a corrupt king, a knight saving a noble from the maws of a dragon, an adventurer discovering a far off land, it didn’t matter to him. It gave a young child a chance to be something he was not. He had stopped playing pretend when father scolded him, but that inner spirit never faded away. Even now, nearing adulthood, he and Morgana would mess around, throw up their flare for the dramatics all while throw quips at each other. Though they’d always remember the setting of their reality. Acting and books could only offer them so much.

Yet they could never give Ren what he truly wanted. His own freedom.

Life was harsh, but his hope never died. He still had the windows of the tower, everything that he learned from his books, Morgana’s friendship and encouragement, and the fact there were things that couldn’t be explained by what he’s read.

The lights were proof enough of that. Every year after the sun set on his birthday, mysterious lights from beyond the forest would rise up to the sky. They were too far away for him to make out exactly what they were. Father claimed they were always the stars, but that never made any sense. Ren knew from the star charts in his books that the phenomenon didn’t match them, stars didn’t rise up from the earth on a single day either. So his father was useless in his search. He couldn’t write them off as a trick of his mind either, Morgana always saw them as well. They’d mention to each other how pretty they were and that the show was always better with each passing year. The floating lights were a mystery, one that he was going to solve.

Father always denied taking Ren to see them for his birthday each year, instead always giving him another book to add to his collection. For over ten years it was the same cycle repeating over and over and over again. Yet the lights continued to draw Ren to them like a moth to a flame. He would not be deterred from seeing them, and this year was going to be different. In a few days he would be turning 17, barely on the edge of becoming an adult, and before he became one he was going to achieve this goal. He was going to leave his prison.

In the quiet of night when father was gone, lying in bed and unable to sleep, Ren looked to the other side of the room towards his furry companion.

Quietly, he called out, “Morgana.”

The cat’s head popped up from the cushion he was lying on, staring intently at his friend to continue.

“We’re getting out of here,” Ren paused, taking in a deep breath, and spoke with determination, “No matter what.”

And He was willing to break every single one of father’s rules to get there.

**Author's Note:**

> .....the Renpunzel pun is the main reason this exists.
> 
> I kind of got carried away with what was just meant to be a warm up. I have more ideas on this, like who would end up being the 'Flynn Rider' of this AU, Ren's real family in this, the details of the healing flower, etc. The 'father' taking the role of Mother Gothel is left vague, since even though I know which character it is (feel free to guess who it is!), I'm not sure how to refer to him outside of just 'father' since this is from Ren's perspective.
> 
> But honestly I have no idea if I have the stamina to add onto this or work on other things. My mind goes crazy on different AUs since I have so many different ones and I have ideas for canon related material, and very limited energy for it all. I'll try to aim for 3 parts at the moment to at least cover the meeting of Ren and who's takes the place of Flynn in this. 
> 
> If you're curious about any au details that I may not get to feel free to ask about them! I don't mind sharing!
> 
> Still, I hope whoever reads this got some enjoyment out of it!  
> If you see any errors I missed while editing let me know as well!


End file.
